This episode is final “new” John Dickson Carr script to be performed on Suspense. Very few Carr scripts would be performed again on the series. Of course, it’s a “locked room” mystery. The owner of a very large diamond is murdered in a room only he could access. He was hit over the head, which means that the killer somehow got into the secure room when others could not.
The original title of this script was “The Locked Door.” It was adapted by Suspense producer William Spier, himself. Spier always did tinker with scripts, sometimes using a pseudonym (once he used “Sebastian Moriarty”), but most times he just tinkered anonymously as that was part of the director’s job. This must have required some extra work for him to add his name to the credits, and to be held so long after Carr’s departure for Britain.
The surviving recordings are a modestly rare “trifecta” where the east, west, and Armed Forces Radio Service recordings are available. The noted times for dialogue differences are approximate:
East at 26:02: “After you drink it you'll…you’ll not mind what else is necessary.”
West at 25:56: “After you drink it you’ll not mind what else is necessary.”
AFRS at 23:24: “After you drink it you’ll not mind what else is necessary.” "
The AFRS recording is drawn from the west coast broadcast. The west recording is the superior of the three recordings by a wide margin. The dates in the file names reflect that the east broadcast was on Thursday, and the west broadcast was on the following Monday.
Spoiler alert (like they matter?; part of the fun of these is how the story is executed, and we’ve heard so many of these episodes before so we know the endings already): The poison is delivered via seltzer bottler. This was common in so many households of the era. It seems so innocent, and also evokes memories of seltzer being sprayed about in Three Stooges shorts, so it seems hard to take seriously in the story. Seltzer was often delivered to homes, and people would make all kinds of novel concoctions at home with juices, milk, flavorings, and even adult beverages. Listeners would have accepted the premise as a poison in just another everyday food item.
The show stars Viginia Bruce and George Zucco, who were profiled in prior posts. Another star was included in this cast, Allyn Joslyn stage. His long career featured stage, film, radio, and was a successful television actor. He tended to be cast as snobbish and pompous aristocrats. It is claimed he was in over 3,000 radio shows, but he has very few mentions in RadioGoldindex. Like so many supporting radio actors, most of their roles were uncredited, especially in daily soap operas and juvenile series. Actors would often be in different daytime shows throughout the day, with their week irregularly peppered by evening appearances. This was especially true for supporting actors who were not under contract for leading roles. Those actors might have limitations in their contracts to not appear in other programs that affect their association with their headline and sponsored role. Sometimes radio’s most financially secure and wealthy performers were those who never got the big starring role but were relied on every day by directors and producers for their skills and dependability. Could he have been on 3,000 shows? It is plausible.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP440127
THE CAST
VIRGINIA BRUCE (Iris Lane), ALLYN JOSLYN (Harold Mills), GEORGE ZUCCO (Dr. Woodhall), Will Wright (Seaton), Joe Kearns (Man in Black / Barton), Hans Conried (Alex Van Houten), Bill Johnstone (Captain Hadley)
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